This invention relates to a fireplace having an integral grate therein.
After a new fireplace has been installed in a home, the homeowner must purchase a grate to be used therein for supporting the wood a short distance above the hearth floor. These grates are not attached in any way to the fireplace, but merely rest upon several supporting legs (usually four).
Because the presently known grates are not attached in any way to the fireplace, they are free to move about on the hearth of the fireplace. Accordingly, they are not always positioned properly for the most efficient burning of the wood and for safety.
Also in presently known grates, it is desirable to minimize the number of legs so as to facilitate cleaning of the ashes from beneath the grate. Accordingly, usually only four legs are used for the grate, and four legs are often insufficient to support the iron members which comprise the grate when the iron members are hot. Therefore, in many situations when the iron members become hot, they respond to the weight of the logs in the fireplace and begin to droop downwardly.
The cleaning of fireplaces having conventional grates therein is often difficult because the legs of the grates interfere with the cleaning process. It is necessary to lift the grate out of the fireplace in order to provide adequate cleaning. Thus, cleaning is often a cumbersome and dirty task.
Because the grate is free to move about on the hearth of the fireplace, there is the danger with present devices that the grate may move too close to the front edge of the fireplace, thereby creating the danger that logs may roll off the grate and outwardly through the open end of the fireplace into the room. If glass doors are used on the fireplace, there is the danger that the logs will roll against the glass doors.